Sealing The Deal (And Our Concrete Counters)

Thanks for all the kind words on Teddy’s arrival last week. We’re home now and settling into life as parents to a newborn again (anyone have tips for getting one to sleep between the hours of 10pm and 4am?), so we’ll definitely be on a lighter schedule, but one project that we rushed to check off the to-do list around 48 hours before Teddy was born was finally sealing our kitchen’s recently Ardexed counters.

We read a bunch of the-sealing-step-could-make-or-break-them posts when it comes to Adrex, so we resisted the urge to rush into anything, and we used some of your input on our March 24th post to help select which sealers to research a little more and eventually track down (we had to order one from Amazon). In the end, our method of choice was two coats of 511 Impregnator Sealer which we bought from Amazon followed by three coats of Safecoat Acrylacq which we had on hand from ordering it previously (those are affiliate links).

The Impregnator’s job was to seal the concrete – against staining and moisture absorption – and it was very easy to apply. The water-like consistency made it easy to spread, so I poured a bit in a bowl and then brushed it onto the clean concrete surface liberally.

The instructions say to wipe off any excess after a few minutes, but I found most of mine absorbed into the concrete pretty quickly. But as a shameless rule follower, I wiped nonetheless. It looks darker and splotchier than it did after it dried in this picture (since it was mid application) but after it all soaked in it was pretty much back to its original color.

We applied that twice (24 hours apart) and then gave that last coat 24 hours to cure before moving on to the last step, which was top-sealing with the Acrylacq. The great thing about using Safecoat as a top-coat in a kitchen environment is that it’s non-toxic and 100% food-safe. This would also seal the counter against stains and moisture (liquid would bead up on the surface instead of absorbing and making rings) and create a nice polished look that’s protective against chipping or scratching. I went rogue with this stuff and just poured a small puddle onto the surface and spread that thinly across the counters with a brush.

We use Acrylacq a lot, so we’re familiar with it (I’m no longer alarmed by the blue-ish tint that it puts on the surface while it’s still wet).

We applied a second and then a third coat of the Acrylacq, just to be safe (letting it dry about 12 hours between each one). Then we let it cure for three full days before putting anything on it, even though it was dry to the touch much sooner than that. Although the Acrylacq was just a “satin” finish, it made the surface significantly glossier than the chalky finish the original Ardex had left. I realize that sounds like I was disappointed, but it’s great.

Not only does the glossier finish make it feel more like a shiny stone countertop (and less like a chalky DIY job) it also protects the counters much more from spills/stains. No longer do drips leave longstanding discolorations on the surface (picture water soaking into a concrete walkway outside and looking dark for hours). Now spills and splatters just bead up and can be wiped away without any trace.

We also read that some sealers show a lot of scratches, but so far we haven’t had any show up, even after cooking some big family meals and sliding some heavy dishes around to serve things. So it seems as if this mix of sealers yields a nice stone-like look that’s food-safe, scratch-resistant, and makes liquids bead up instead penetrating – at least so far.

My only complaint about our sealing results is that the glossier finish makes it slightly easier to see imperfections in the counter’s surface, namely areas where I should’ve sanded things a bit smoother during the Ardex application step (just like how glossy paint will accentuate imperfections in walls, this follows the same principle). Sherry is quicker to embrace these imperfections as par for the concrete counter course (“they’re supposed to look like that”) but the perfectionist in me just sees areas that I could have smoothed out a little more before sealing. Either way we’re both ecstatic to finally have everything back on our counters and be able to use our kitchen again like normal people. And it’s definitely a huge step up from the old yellow laminate that we had before.

Note: There have been people who’ve asked if we’d like to paint those bottom cabinets now that the counters are done, which is always a possibility, but for now we’re a lot more distracted by things like that faux brick linoleum flooring – so that’s at the top of our list.

There are still some things I’d like to improve about my Ardex-ing technique (namely sanding more smoothly) but generally I’m really happy with how it all turned out. Especially how the sealing step turned it into a much more finished feeling surface.

Aside from a few the-family-is-in-town-to-meet-a-new-baby meals, we haven’t used the kitchen like crazy yet, so we’ll definitely keep you posted on how it wears. Whether stains get through and we get scratches galore, or things stay pretty darn similar to how they look now, we’ll definitely share some updated detail shots in a few months time.

Has anyone else used the same mix of sealers? Or had good (or bad) luck with another combo? Feel free to share those details here for anyone who might be tackling this soon. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a photo comparison that a bunch of you guys have requested. Here’s Teddy at four days old:

And here’s Clara’s when she was around three weeks old in the same pose. They seem to have identical (extra long) fingers and toes, the same invisible blonde eyebrows, and the same tiny little chin – but Clara had a lot less hair. This Clara picture and this Teddy picture are probably the closest comparison so far (in real life we think they look related – but not quite like twins).

Now about those tips for getting a newborn to sleep between the hours of 10pm and 4am. We’re all ears…

I had been thinking about using Safecoat for a sealer on a dresser for our new baby (#5 born in January). Would you recommend it for a wood dresser and is it sold anywhere like Home Depot, etc? I was surprised by how expensive it was on Amazon!

Yes, we have used it for years on things like dressers (we sealed Clara’s dresser before she was born with it!) and it holds up really well. We love that it’s a non-toxic alternative to poly, and it’s really thin so a big container lasts a really long time (we use each one that we order for years and multiple projects before needing to reorder).

Rock and play. I just had my second and this changed our lives. He started sleeping 4 hours at a time the second might home, which was when we bought the rock and play. 4 hours if sleep, eat, right back to sleep. Life changing!

Rock an play all the way! Our little girl slept in it right next to our bed and was sleeping 5-6 hour stretches. We by far had more success with this as opposed to her crib or a pack n play. We ended up transitioning her to her crib at 2 months.

my third baby slept through the night the earliest out of all of my kiddos and she was the only one i had the rock and play with. she slept awesome in that thing. i had a harder time transitioning her to the crib but we got there – it was worth it. also the dr’s always gave the advice to just make sure night time seems boring to them – lights off, quite time, no tv blaring, talking loud – that happens during the daytime so they can start to realize the difference btwn day and night and not want to party at night b/c they think you are way too boring :)

Be careful about these ones though–there was a bunch of recalls for mold a while back, and a number of people complain that it can cause flat heads for some infants leading to helmets/lots of medical costs. Just do your research.

I’m not kidding when I say the Rock N Play changed my life. My daughter was about three months old when we got it, at the recommendation of dozens of friends. It finally broke her wake-up-every-half-hour habit, with the added bonus of not posing a SIDS risk the way swings and car seats have reportedly done. (As far as I can tell, anyway – I did as much reasearch as I could.) She’s almost seven months now and is transitioning to her crib (the RNP is next to her crib in her room) – all of her naps are in the crib, and nighttime sleep is 50-50. I know that sounds old, but she hasn’t shown any signs of being able to bust out of it, and she just sleeps so much more soundly in it (4-hr stretches vs. up every 1-2). Clearly, she’s not an awesome sleeper despite everything we’ve tried, and the RNP is what finally allowed us to get more sleep, get things done, and (for me) sleep enough to move out of postpartum anxiety. Plus, I exclusively pump (unfortunately), and the RNP helped so much with that when she was younger and less apt to entertain herself for 15 minutes while I pumped. Good luck, Petersiks! (Also…don’t despair too much…getting days and nights mixed up is typical, and hopefully he’ll be done with that in a couple weeks! Which I know sounds like forever is postpartum-time-warp, but still. One day at a time. Or…one three-hour cycle of sleep-eat-play at a time!!)

Follow up to this – my model (purchased a few months ago) was not included in the recall for mold, but I make sure to clean it regularly anyway. Super easy to do – throw the fabric parts in the wash and wipe down the plastic parts. As for the plagiocephaly issue, that could also happen in a crib, and I believe the newer versions of the RNP have an extra pad to help prevent this. My babe has no issues with a flat head, but then, she’s never really slept for long enough to make it an issue. ;)

also you can take it apart to clean (wash the machine – and wipe down the inside. and make sure you rotate the way they lay (like you would in a crib) facing left, facing right for the flat head issue and also lots of tummy time, same as for crib sleeping…

Our daughter loved the rock n play too! If you use it be sure to transition to the crib before 4 months when they hit the four month sleep regression or you’ll have a harder time making the move.

Also, cluster feedings before bed helped me tremendously. Starting around 7 or so I would feed my daughter every hour, quick feedings like 5-1IMG_2312.JPG0 min per side and that helped fill her up and signal that sleep was coming. That only lasted a few weeks (maybe 3 but helped so much).

Lastly, I don’t know what he is doing during that time but if he is just crying inconsolably, he might have a dairy sensitivity. My daughter would scream from 11pm-2am every night and when I finally cut out dairy (it took about 3 days to see results and a week for the full effect) she was like a different child. She went down at 11 and would go 4-5 hours. Good luck! You’ll figure it out. It looks like you’ve got lots of good ideas to try.

Yup – the Rock in Play saved our life with #2 and now have used it with #3 and #4 (who is just 6 weeks today). I really wish we’d had it with #1 as well. #4 is already sleeping 8-9hrs at night! We swaddle (only at night to help differentiate sleeptime) and then put in the rock in play with white noise! Good luck #2 was our trouble sleeper and it was rough!

Another one chiming in here for the Rock n Play. My babe is 4 months old and we used it for naps, not night sleeping, but it made napping a breeze. Nowadays he tends to prefer his swing, but it’s still so useful, because it’s so portable (like bringing it into the bathroom or kitchen). However, I think I remember reading that Clara was an exceptionally good night sleeper – in general, I still consider it a good night if I only get up twice, so it might just take Teddy a little longer to find his rhythm.

I agree with the rock n play by Fischer Price. We used this with our second, and it helped tremendously with his acid reflux as well.

The only think I would like to add is BE SURE TO GET ONE WITH A PILLOW (like the monkey or sheep model). I bought the old model, because I didn’t want something animal-ish in my house! haa! Well, my son got a “flat head” from it, and he had to wear a helmet for a few months to make it nice and round again. Just be careful! :)And congratulations!

Love the countertops! Thinking of doing them in the basement of our home.

No experience with the Rock and play, but I do not think it should be used for long nighttime sleeps. It seems to me the baby is forced into a position comparable to a carseat and they always tell you not to use the carseat for more than 30 minutes at a time because it may cause permanent damage to babies back. (I did a lot of research on that and talked to several specialists.) You may want to look into that before deciding to use a Rock and Play during the night.

My son was a bad sleeper right from the start. At almost 2 years he still is. We tried everything. Still no solution. All the best! Hope your precious little boy turns out to be a great sleeper after a few weeks. Wouldn’t wish the “bad sleeper” curse on anyone.

A few tips for Mum & Dad though:

Heard good things about the Born Free Nighty Night Nursing Light. Helps with breastfeeding or bottle feeding during the night. Has an optional vibration alarm. Helps to track feeding time or gently wakes Mom/Dad in case he/she falls asleep while feeding.

We love the Cloud-B Tranquil Turtle Night Light Ocean. It has very soothing light and sound effects. You can adjust the volume seamlessly. I found it helps ME a great deal to go back to sleep after nighttime feedings :-)

I also loved the Chicco Magic Lantern. Has 5 different soothing sounds and a very relaxing melody option. And soothing light effects of course. Volume adjusts seamlessly. We used it for nearly 2 years. Then the melody got a bit old so we bought the Tranquil Turtle.

I was going to say the same thing. Although every child is different and our third took much longer to sleep through the night than our first two. Swaddling is awesome and if you use the velcro ones from the summer brand (sold at target and babies r us) you can leave their arms swaddled and still change their diaper. It also helps to turn on as little light as possible when you do wake to feed or change him during the night so that he doesn’t get roused and then to make sure that during the day you have more light going on when you are wanting him to be awake to help his little rhythms get established. good luck!!! And the book mentioned above was our life saver with the 5 s’s to help sooth baby!

I wondered if anyone was going to mention Happiest Baby on the Block. I’m the grandmother, but I concur. It’s much more than just swaddling. It is available in video format which is helpful with technique. My youngest son was the swaddler expert. We decided it was his big hands. :-)

My family will probably have another baby or two before I come to the end of counting grands, so I’ll be giving Rock and Play as a gift, for sure. I noticed that not one person said it didn’t help their baby.

I loved the Happiest Baby on the Block book. It was so great. My kids were never great with the swaddling. It seemed to tick them off after they were about 2 weeks old. But all of the techniques including the shhhing and swinging were awesome.

Also, love the side-by-side pics of the babies. So cute! We’ve made many pics with our two in similar poses or wearing the same outfit (having 2 boys makes that easier), etc. It’s fun to see how similar or different they look.

Congrats to your family on Teddy’s arrival. He’s a cutie. The countertops look fab.

My 2nd baby (a boy, first was a girl) was not a great sleeper either. I was spoiled by my first who slept through the night starting at 8 weeks (I was nursing too). He’s now 13 months and looking back, I think he was just growing so darn fast. Men are larger than women (generally, right?) and I think the speedy growth starts early. He would go right back to sleep but he just wanted to eat every 3 hours. By 8 months when he was eating more solids he started sleeping through the night but those first 8 months were a blur! It’s tiring but enjoy it – you already know how fast they grow :-) Congrats again, guys.

Our second, a boy and first was a girl, who’s two, is five months old and we’re STILL struggling with sleep! Once he puts some weight on him I’m sure you’ll get longer stretches :) Fingers crossed! Teddy looks so sweet and love the photo comparison with Clara! Congratulations to you both!

Baby Teddy is adorable – congrats to your sweet family! Swaddle that little guy and help him sleep as much as possible and long as possible – sleep begets sleep! Also, have a lights off quiet policy starting the same time every evening but keep it nice and bright during the day.

Wow it looks fantastic! Contemplating doing ardex as well and have been waiting for this post. I love the identical pictures you took with Clara and Teddy, so adorable and I must say I’m digging the scruffy look woot woot #illbackoffhesyours. Congratulations again on your sweet boy!

Yes, you definitely need the Miracle Swaddle Blanket. Name sounds ridiculous but it really is the best thing ever for newborns. I didn’t have it for my first but used it for #2-4 (done now!) and it was a BIG game changer.

Also, babies like schedules really well so if you can keep baby Teddy nursing no farther than 3 hours apart at a stretch during the day (waking if necessary) then he will want to sleep longer when he gets the chance (at night!)

Final advice (and with my last baby doing all these 3 things he slept 8 hours at a time from 4 weeks on)would be something like a carseat or the rock n play. Something about that cuddled up position I think feels familiar to them rather than lying flat in a crib. Mine was out by 3 months when he started to get a big wiggly.

Counters look awesome…have been so tempted to try that with ours, but maybe in summer when I’m a little less busy???

Newborn sleeping…ahh the fun of when they have nights and days mixed up. I think “grit your teeth and power on” may be your mantra for a bit. Also? Clearly the baby pics were the best part of the post. :) Love how John rocks the forehead wrinkles.

Oh! I almost forgot! We read the Weissbluth book, which I also recommend, and a concept from that book that was really counter-intuitive but SO TRUE for Harvey was “sleep begets sleep.” When he got enough sleep during the day (which was a ton, btw. He was never up for more than an hour or two at a time) then he slept well at night. If he didn’t sleep well during the day, he was up at night. http://www.amazon.com/Healthy-Sleep-Habits-Happy-Child/dp/0449004023

Thumbs up to this. It helped us so much! Swaddling was our mantra! We eventually moved to the Magic Sleep Suit http://www.magicsleepsuit.com/ which got me major side-eyes from my mom and sister, but it worked like a dream for us!

The swaddling (Summer Infant Swaddlemees (plural, haha)) were our saviors. my husband now insists that we give them, in triplicate, as shower gifts to anyone and everyone we know that is expecting a baby. He also insists on only gifting clothes with zippers – NO SNAPS. Haha.

velcro swaddlers are good at helping baby’s spontanious movements from waking them up inadvertantly but overall, babies sleep as they are individually programmed. dont overthink that you are doing anything wrong if Teddy’s not sleeping yet/as much as you’d prefer. some do and some dont no matter what parents do! But you guys are pro’s (thanks to Clara), you know what you’re doing :)

Was just going to say ‘Swaddling’ but someone beat me to it! My eldest girl was a poor sleeper, and as it isn’t humanly possible to cuddle a baby to sleep all the time the swaddling route worked for me. Not too tight, but tight enough to keep her cosy. Good luck, he’s a beaut! xx

Hmm, maybe just print out some articles and posts about the process and let your landlord make the call? I admit I’d be nervous to give it a try through a renter, but perhaps he’s planning to replace the counters right after your lease ends anyway so it wouldn’t be much of a risk for him?

I have no real advice to help Teddy sleep better, but what worked for my husband and I to stay somewhat sane during those first couple of bleary months was sleeping in shifts at night. I’m sure since this is your second rodeo you guys already had a system in place that works for you but thought it couldn’t hurt to share what worked for us. Good luck, nap when you can, enjoy the newborn snuggles!! :) P.S. – the counters look awesome!

Yes, I agree! My husband and I divided the nights so he slept from at least 9-2 and I slept from 2-7 am. Any time the baby slept we could overlap our sleep, but if our son woke during the night we knew who’s turn it was and who got a little shut-eye. I wish we had done this with our daughter, it helped us both keep our sanity! And a little stimulation during the day really helps! Any new sights or sounds, even in your backyard, can make a big difference.
Do the counters need to be re-sealed periodically? Annually? Also, I love the honeycomb vase, where did you find it?

Thanks Tamara! The vase is from West Elm a while back (John got it for me as a gift) and the counters might need to be resealed once in a great while (I might want to apply more Safecoat if I feel like it’s wearing down in certain spots, maybe in a year or two?) so I’ll keep you posted!

Sherry should wear a tshirt all day and place that tshirt next to Teddy while he is supposed to sleep. Him being able to “smell” his mom and thinking she is close may help him to sleep? And start early on a steady routine – you can feed him regularly by a schedule rather him telling you when he wants it (not sure if that makes sense)

It must be so nice to have the kitchen countertops done so you can worry about more important issues like the newborn sleep project! Seriously, the counters look great, and I look forward to any updates you might have on their wearability. And of course…congrats on Teddy!

Hi Sleep Deprived Parents!!! You asked so I thought it would be helpful if I sent you my newborn sleep notes from a newborn seminar that I conduct. Since I can’t attach anything to my comments, feel free to email me and I will send it to you….(for free with no obligation of anything)
Ahh…the joys of having a newborn! You will soon realize that each baby is so different but I’m rooting that you have another awesome sleeper like Clara!
Lots of Sleep Baby Love, Susie

I always joke that my husband and I must be missing the “sleep” gene because neither one of my kids are great sleepers. Ava is 14 months old and she still gets up 3 times a night! The only tip I have is to keep the routine very consistent and take turns. At some point, he’ll sleep like a champ!

Congrats on your new baby! Our first born was also “flipped” at birth – slept all day and was awake all night. It rocked our world. The things that we did that eventually helped:

– Try your best to keep the baby awake as much as possible during the day. We didn’t let her sleep for longer than three hours at a time during the day.
– Kept her near windows or outside in the sunlight as much as possible during the day. You basically have to train the babe that there is a difference between day and night, and that light = being awake and dark = being asleep.
– Conversely, at night, kept everything very quite and very dark. Which meant no talking or cooing to the baby at night, night time diaper changes were done with a flashlight to keep the lights off, etc.
– During those first few weeks, we also did whatever we could to keep her asleep at night – which meant sleeping on us, co-sleeping, etc. We eventually transitioned to a rock and play, but we really tried to make her as comfortable as possible at night to encourage sleep.

Good luck! It takes a while, but he will definitely figure out day from night (eventually!)

my mom tells stories about how my sister was like this, totally reversed day and night. and she was at home with an 18 month old too when my sister was little!

she said the doctors told her the same thing: keep the baby awake during the day, even going as far as using a damp washcloth to wipe the baby’s face to wake him/her up if s/he slept too long during the day.

of course, this was advice from 30+ years ago, but i imagine a damp, clean washcloth would still be within the realm of acceptable methods of keeping baby awake.

good luck! (hope i won’t need to look back at this advice when our 2nd kiddo arrives later this year! eeep!)

I think these are excellent suggestions! After my first did not sleep thru the night for a year and a half, I knew the second one I would do whatever it takes. He slept with me, and then as the time between feedings grew longer….I would set him into his crib after the middle of the night feeding. Eventually, he gradually was sleeping all thru the night in his crib. So hard! Babies r a blessjng but so much work. Counters rock!

Er. I’m not sure I’d go the concrete counter route myself (the idea is still a little weird to me), but as you say, it is a HUGE improvement over the yellowy stuff you had before. And it’s a great value, especially for your Phase I update.

I love love love the counters! My husband and I have been going back and forth on this for a while but I think you just sealed the deal :::giggle:::. Would you be able to give me a break down on how much it cost to do this?

And Teddy is just adorable! Congrats on the new addition to the family. Little brothers get lots of love from their big sisters!!

Let’s see, it was around $34 for the sealer and the total Ardex cost (including other materials to complete that step like sandpaper and buckets) was $77. We did 45 square feet of counters, which breaks down to $2.46 per square foot I think.

I know with C you had her in her own room from day 1 and that worked great for all! Some babies though need to feel closeness with their parents so I would suggest room sharing for a bit. The arms reach co sleeper was a godsend in those newborn days! I also did a “dream feed” around 10 or 11 and I think that helped too. I’m not even going to suggest white noise or swaddling because I know you’re on it!

I’ve forgotten so much about the newborn stage. I’m afraid I’m in for a surprise when baby #2 arrives in August! I do remember using advice from the Happiest Baby on the Block DVD… things like white noise, holding on the tummy, etc. I also did lots of bouncing on an exercise ball (maybe that’s something John can do until you’re healed, Sherry!). Good luck, guys. He’s sooo precious!

I slept with my babe on my chest. I loved it, he loved it! Have to do it SAFELY and if Sheri is still on pain meds from the section you have to be extra careful. Look up safe co-sleeping. It was the only way I could get some sleep those first months. Again, must do it SAFELY. Can’t stress that enough! :D

My newborn was born 4 weeks early and literally slept on my boob for the first few weeks of his life! I can’t say that I got a lot of sleep, but more than if I ever tried to put him down. Also, I agree with the rock n play. We have one and its the only thing that has worked for us, it makes him feel a little more snug and that darn startle reflex doesn’t wake him up continuously.

Love the comparison pictures! Love Teddy’s little nose! Might be awhile before he’s sleeping better; he’s so little. I just can’t convince my husband to go with the concrete counter tops but I think they look fantastic and would do it in a second!

Just had #2 last month. We are again using basically every technique suggested in “the baby whisperer solves all you problems.” Get the expanded edition not the short cliff notes version. Pure gold. Good luck!

I love the counter tops, but I LOVELOVELOVE the photo comparison. Thank you for making me extra excited today with the cuteness overload! Okay back to the kitchen. I think it’s hard too, because of the flooring, like you said. I think that when that is different, everything will feel more together and make sense!

My daughter swears by Babywise–got their very fussy firstborn sleep g well in short order, and the results have been duplicated with their second. Some people view it as too structures, but as you adapt it to your own lifestyle, it needn’t be totally rigid. Anyway, it’s available on Amazin, and has helped lots and lots of families.

Love the counter tops. And blessings on all y’all in this new chapter as a family of four!

I agree that the book, Babywise is amazing!!!! I have four kids and all of them slept through the night by eight weeks and were super happy babies! I’ve recommended it to at least 20 other people through the years and all of them swear by it.

Co-sleeping (done properly) can help you get more sleep between feedings, but remember that babies have to adjust to life on the outside and have their days and nights mixed up for the first couple weeks. My first was a great sleeping after the first few weeks, my second slept pretty well from the get-go (through the night by 6 weeks) but hit 6 months and has woken up at least once a night to nurse nearly every night since then (she’ll be 2 in June). The first two weeks both of my babies loved to sleep on my husband’s chest. He’d sleep propped up in bed and turned slightly towards the middle if the bed and our babies would sleep that way til they needed to nurse. It will get better soon! Having an older child to chase around during the day definitely makes it more challenging. Spend special time with Clara, but having someone to help take care if her can be extremely helpful so that both mommy AND daddy and sleep in a little or take naps if they need to. My mom was able to stay with us for a month after I had my second and she just took point on caring for my first, especially in the morning, an that helped a ton!
Congrats on your beautiful little Teddy! Y’all must be on cloud nine! I hope Sherry’s recovery is going well and that nursing is off to a great start!

I read Happiest Baby on The Block when I was desperate for my 5 month old to sleep. I was exclusively breastfeeding and the method seemed to be geared more towards formula/bottle feeding (measuring exact ounces, etc). I suppose if you only pumped it could work, but at the time I thought it would ruin my breastfeeding and that bonding I enjoyed so much, so I didn’t do it. (He did eventually start sleeping at 8 months, as I mentioned in an earlier comment).

I’m glad the method worked for so many others, but that was my take on it.

I exclusively breastfed, and the 5 S’s still worked for us! I don’t remember a part about formula, but maybe it’s just something I missed. I think you can definitely do the 5 S part while exclusively breastfeeding.

Congratulations!!Sounds like days and nights mixed up. My first-born, our son, was like that for (sad to say) the first couple months of his life. My daughter did not have her’s mixed up though. All I can say is try it all and maybe something will stick: white noise, swing, bouncy seat, feeding him….I hope he sleeps soon because I know first-hand how rough that is.

Counters look fab!!! Hang in there with Teddy. I think the first few days/weeks are hard. Getting into a routine and on a sleep schedule. I remember those days all too well. I wish I had the answer. I think I got lucky with my kids as they were sleeping through the night at around 6-7 weeks.

We tried everything to get our son to sleep better- swaddling (he hated it), rock n play, bassinet, crib (no way until 5 months old), and a swing. He liked the swing more than anything else, but he still got up at night. And he definitely liked one type of swing over another.

My advice is doing shifts. My hubbie would take 8 PM to midnight or 1am (since he was a night owl anyways), and I would get up the next time with the baby, etc, until the morning hours. This enabled us both to get a solid block of sleep. Still sometimes not enough, but it helped.

daytime swaddling seemed to work with both of our girls, but for the first 6 weeks or so, they both had nights and days mixed up and would be very active from about 11pm-3am.

i’m curious as to what products you would use to clean this type of counter. i usually use Ms. Meyer’s Clean Day all-purpose cleaner or a mix of vinegar and water for my granite counters. Do you need to use a particular cleaning method to preserve the finish on Adrex?

I hear vinegar can etch certain things (stone, concrete, etc) so I would use Ms Meyers (I water it down 50%) or Dr Bronners (also watered down 50%) and that should work without etching the finish. Will tell you how it goes!

Sleeping baby tips (because we never had good sleepers!)
– rock n play sleeper- I wish we had this with our first!! Such a lifesaver. Be sure to clean it regularly.
– tight swaddle- the miracle blanket only worked for us- plus we rigged it so we could swaddle and use the rock n play (legs out).
– if he’s fussy use loud white noise- we would use “baby got colic” off YouTube and crank it up when she was super fussy- it would jolt her out of her fussiness and lull her to sleep- then turn it down.
– colic calm worked well for us too- if he’s fussy.
Good luck! I hope he gives you good rest soon :-)

We did this too! Swaddle with miracle blanket + rock n play from day one. We have a 3 month old who has always been a great night sleeper, and whenever we try a different swaddle he wakes up more often. We did manage to make the transition to crib from rock n play around 10 weeks and it wasn’t bad. Also loved Weissbluth’s book and the 5 S’s. Good luck! Can’t believe how much Teddy looks like John!